Erbes-Büdesheim

Erbes-Büdesheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.GeographyLocationWest of Alzey, in Rhenish Hesse, at an elevation of 250 m lies Erbes-Büdesheim, a place marked by distinctive geological features, botanical singularities and a great number of surprising historical facts. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Alzey-Land, whose seat is in Alzey.GeologyIn terms of Earth’s history, the village lies on what the geologists call the Vorholz Peninsula, which some 40 to 30 million years ago almost always rose up out of the sea.HistoryAs long ago as the New Stone Age (4500–1800 BC), this place was settled, and likewise in the early (700–450 BC) and late Iron Age (450 - 15 BC), as shown by many finds. There was also settlement in Roman times, and unearthed in 1909 was a whole Frankish burial ground.The place where Erbes-Büdesheim now lies was therefore settled through a great length of time – albeit likely with interruptions. On 2 to 4 January 767, the village had its first documentary mention, and likewise the then-standing village church, Saint Michael’s (Michaels-Kirche) between 767 and 768. The first inhabitant whose name is known was one Egilolf, who on the date mentioned sold Lorsch Abbey, which stood on the river Rhine across from Worms, ten Joch (about 3.5 ha) of cropland, for which he received one horse. To this faithful, precise noting of this sale by the monks, Erbes-Büdesheim owes its first documentary mention, and likewise, almost all Rhenish Hesse’s villages had their first documentary mention in such a way.